A/N: Hello all! I'm so excited to tell you about this…er…collection? Yeah, that's what it's called. I've been working on it for awhile and I have a strong belief that it's going to be pretty good. These one-shots and possibly two-shots will mostly be centered around two or three characters at a time with a various theme, whether they be based off episodes from the series or ideas that just pop inside my head. I'm not sure which pairing overpowers the rest but I'll try to be fair with character appearances.
Now as you all should know, I don't own Code Geass. This sentence is necessary for me not to get sued for all I'm worth (which isn't a lot, I'll be the first to admit) so that's why I must type this painful sentence all the time. Enough of that enjoy! =]
Oh How I Loathe Thee, a Collection of Code Geass one-shots
Chapter 1
Title: Someone's in the Kitchen with Kallen…
Pairing: Kallen & Lelouch
Theme: Cooking
Summary: It's someone's birthday among the Black Knights and Kallen gets the sudden urge to bake…at 3 am. That just so happens to be the time that our favorite masked hero wakes up to make himself a snack. How convenient.
All she had to do was close her eyes and welcome the sleep that she felt she deserved after a hard day at work. That's all she had to do. But why didn't her body comply with her decision? She was ready for a soothing dream of whatever her mind could muster. She was ready to sleep for a good seven to eight hours and wake up well rested but she just couldn't catch it. It was out of her reach and that frustrated her to end.
With a huff, Kallen sat up and lightly scratched her scalp. She ran her fingers through unkempt red hair and slid back her sheets as she swung her legs over the edge of the bed. She stretched and walked over to her cell phone that was sitting by an outlet, charging. She unplugged the device and slid the screen up, watching as it lit up.
3:03 am
She snarled at the numbers and began browsing throughout her phone. That's when she noticed an alert. She scrolled over to the calendar and saw that someone's birthday was today.
"Tamaki huh?" she sighed and sat down on her bed, phone still in hand. It was tradition in the Black Knights that a small party would be thrown for whoever had a birthday. A cake would be bought since most of the Black Knights were soldiers not bakers. But Kallen couldn't deny herself the opportunity to see if she still had the wits and the sanity to whip up something in the kitchen.
"Cookies, maybe?" she pondered. She stood up to plug her phone back into the charger and slid on her slippers which just so happened to match her pajamas, which consisted of a light pink tank top and shorts with black, red, and pink hearts on them. She walked out of her room and down the long corridor taking various turns until she reached the kitchen.
It was pitch-black, as she expected. Finding the light switch, she turned it on and walked inside. The room was pretty big with a large countertop, a small table with two chairs in the center, an oven-stove combo, microwave, cabinets, a sink, dish washer, refrigerator, and freezer room full of meats, ice cream, and other frozen treats. They might be knights for justice but they have to have their ice cream too.
Feeling a tad bit nostalgic, Kallen reached for one of the white aprons hanging on its designated hook and quickly slid it over her head and tied it in the back. She walked about the kitchen, opening up random cabinets until her eyes fell upon the familiar package of Betty Crocker Sugar Cookie Mix. She smiled and grabbed it, closing the cabinet and leaning on the door. She read over the package seeing that she needed one stick of butter or margarine and one egg.
"That's all? Seems simple enough." She shrugged and walked over to the stainless steel fridge and opened up the door, peering inside. She let the cool air brush against her body, giving her chills as she scanned through it.
"Where the heck are the butter and eggs? All I see is alcohol." She grumbled thinking of the birthday boy in question. Once she pushed back all the bottles of brew, she spotted a lonely carton of eggs sitting way in the back. She smiled and picked it up in her hands, holding it close to her chest as she continued searching for the other item.
"Don't tell me we're all out…" she whispered to herself as she began to grow impatient with looking.
"Kallen?" she heard her name and jumped, almost losing the eggs in the process. She fumbled with the carton out of surprise and breathed a sigh of relief when they were still intact. She quickly turned around to be met by the face of a sleepy looking Lelouch. It was strange seeing her leader/ex-classmate in such a way. He almost looked like a child who had woken up suddenly. She smiled slightly at the sight.
"Lelouch? What are you doing in here?" she asked, breaking away from her previous thoughts. He gave a small laugh and walked over to her.
"I could be asking you the same thing." She grunted at his response and walked over to the counter to put the eggs next to the package of mix. She quickly passed him and returned to searching for the ingredient, almost ignoring him.
"What are you looking for?" he asked, strolling up beside her while looking into the fridge as well. Kallen swallowed hard as her eyes darted back and forth.
"Butter." She said. He smirked at her and reached up to a little compartment on the door. The slot read 'butter.' Kallen momentarily sweat dropped at the situation and growled as Lelouch offered the wrapped substance to her. She begrudgingly took it and frowned at him. He shrugged and closed the refrigerator and began leaning on it, watching Kallen as she went to work.
She walked to various parts of the kitchen, pulling out everything that she needed, according to the directions. Before her sat a medium sized bowl, wooden spoon, a stick of butter, a carton of eggs, a baking sheet, and a spatula. Reading over the back of the package again she walked over to the oven and pressed a button that read 'Preheat.' After pressing a series of numbers, she returned to her ingredients. She was unable to ignore the pair of eyes she felt watching her.
"Why are you in here?" she asked, turning to the black haired boy. He smirked and ran a hand through ravenous hair, his eyes never leaving her. Feeling self-conscious, she turned back to her current project, aware the fact that he was walking over to her.
"I'm not allowed to get a snack?" he asked, his back pressed against the counter with his arms crossed over his chest. His gaze was forward as Kallen ripped off the top of the package and poured the dry ingredients into the bowl.
"I never said that." She replied, giving him a sideward glance. His gaze fell on the carton of eggs so he reached for him. Kallen looked up from her directions as Lelouch pulled out a bowl and opened up the carton of eggs and held one in his hands. She watched as he gently tapped the egg on the side of the bowl and expertly cracked it with one hand.
"How do you do that?" she asked, absentmindedly. She immediately regretted asking that question.
'I guess that's one of the reasons they tell you to think before you speak.' She thought to herself.
"Would you like for me to teach you?" he offered. Kallen nodded uneasily and took an egg in her hand as did he.
"You just tap the egg on the bowl until you hear the shell crack. And then with a firm but gentle grip…" he paused and cracked it in half and watched as it fell into the bowl and merged with the other one.
"You pull the two halves of the shell apart." He finished. Kallen looked a tad bit confused as she turned to her own egg. She was so used to using two hands. Lelouch sensed her feelings and smiled.
"Let me help you." He pulled up behind her and placed a hand over hers and guided her through it. She blushed deeply when his chest hit her back.
"Uh, you just t-tap it right?" she stammered, feeling extremely uncomfortable being this close to him.
"Yeah, and then you pull it apart." She took a deep breath and closed her eyes, wishing for this moment to be over soon. That's when she heard the shell crack and yolk fall into the mix.
"You always were a fast learner." He smirked and returned to his previous position. She stared at the bowl in awe and she couldn't help but smile.
"Thanks." She whispered to him. He nodded in acknowledgement and pulled open one of the drawers and grabbed a whisk.
"Who are the cookies for? Zero?" he teased, as he began to whisk the two eggs quickly. Kallen snorted, unwrapping the butter onto a plate before slipping it into the microwave to be softened.
"They're certainly not for Lelouch if that's what you think." She retorted. She entered ten seconds on the microwave. Lelouch reached into the cabinets for salt and pepper and put a dash of each into the egg mixture before putting them back.
"So they are for Zero." She frowned at him and crossed her arms over her chest.
"No, they're for Tamaki." She spat. She turned around and pulled the butter out of the microwave and dumped it into the mixture.
"Tamaki? I had no idea you had those type of feelings for him." He teased again. He watched as Kallen's face turned a light shade of pink and she snapped her head in his direction, her red locks swinging about her face.
"It's his birthday today. That's why. Plus I couldn't get to sleep so…" her voice trailed off as she took the wooden spoon and began to stir up everything in the bowl.
"So that's the real reason you're in here. You couldn't just bake cookies for a fellow comrade out of the goodness of your heart Kallen?" Kallen rolled her eyes and bit back the urge to smack him with her utensil.
"Why do you enjoy teasing me so much Lelouch?" she asked, not bothering to look up at him. He wore a thoughtful expression. He had already pulled out a frying pan and turned the stove on and walked over to another cabinet and came back with a can of spray.
"Well?" Kallen asked again, felling irritated. Lelouch returned to her side and sprayed the inside of the pan and waited for it to get hot enough.
"That is a question of yours that shall remain unanswered, I'm afraid." She snarled at him and pulled the spoon out of the cookie dough and began to pick off what was left on the spoon.
"You don't look the type to lick the spoon." He commented. Kallen shrugged and got off all that she wanted before laying it in the sink and wiping her hands off on her apron.
"I don't look like a lot of things." She retorted, taking the cooking spray from his side and spraying some on the sheet, noting at the sound of the oven beeping. The preheating was done. Kallen began getting pieces of dough to roll into balls before placing them on the baking sheet.
Lelouch looked over at her and admired her work. Each piece of dough looked almost exactly the same size and they were spread out evenly so they wouldn't be stuck together once they flattened out in the oven.
"I take it that you're experienced with cooking." He assumed, dumping the eggs into the hot pan. Kallen looked up from her work to see Lelouch looking down at his frying eggs.
"Uh, I guess so." She shuffled nervously, picking the dough off her fingers. She smiled, looking at her work. There were at least fifteen balls of dough on the sheet.
"You're going to need more than fifteen cookies don't you think?" he said, looking over the baking sheet as well. Kallen gave him a tired look and ignored his comment while opening the oven and sliding the sheet in.
"They're for Tamaki and he can share if he wants to. Knowing him, Zero will probably be getting some since they're best buds and all." She smirked, approaching the microwave, planning to use it as a timer for the cookies. She punched in eight minutes and forty-five seconds.
Kallen watched as he finished frying his eggs and slid them onto a plate. He looked so dignified even without the mask and just looking at him like this cleared any doubts she had about him being the real Zero.
"Like what you see?" he remarked, running a hand through his hair. Kallen blush profusely and tore her gaze away from him. He smirked and sat the plate down on the table.
There was a silence between that unnerved Kallen. She looked down at her hands to see them still covered in the sugary dough. She sucked in her teeth and stood up from her leaning position and proceeded to walk over to the sink.
"I have to get this dough off my hands." She murmured lightly. Unbeknownst to her, Lelouch heard her and devised a plan inside of that sick mind of his that he knew would shake the Guren pilot up for sure.
As she walked passed him to get to the sink he wrapped his fingers around her small wrist and gave a slight tug. She looked surprised by his actions and arched an eye brow at him. He merely gave her a devilish grin to which her eyes widened.
"L-Lelouch what are you doing?" she asked in a voice just above a whisper.
It was then that he raised her fingers to his mouth and began to eat the dough off them, one by one. A shuddering chill raced throughout Kallen's body as he did this. Her heart was pounding as she gave in to the blush that had probably reached her forehead by now.
"Not bad Q-1." He remarked with a triumphant grin on his face as he released her wrist and stood before her, his amethyst eyes shining with mischief. Kallen gave him a hard glare before staring at her fingers. They were slightly red at the tips.
'He likes seeing my reaction. That's why he constantly teases and puts me in awkward situations.' She concluded, not daring to look up at him.
'Two can play that game, Lulu.' She sneered at him silently. He still wore that innocent look as if he hadn't done anything wrong, and in his book, he probably hadn't. But Kallen knew better and she knew Lelouch well enough to know that this was just another way to leave her flustered. She brushed it off temporarily and turned away from him to wash her hands. A small wave of fatigue washed over her as she suppressed a yawn.
Lelouch sat in one of the chairs and picked at his fried eggs. Kallen gave him a glance and was reminded of how he used to look at Ashford. On most days, he would be in the Student Council room just thinking, oblivious to the world around him. She smiled, thinking of how things used to be. She shook the thought from her head and decided that she wanted to frost the cookies as well.
"You want to help me put frosting on them?" she asked, snapping him out of his blank stare. She gave him a hesitant smile. He gave her a strange look before he nodded in agreement. He stood and placed his half eaten 'snack' on the counter before he reached into the cabinets for icing. It was vanilla.
"How boring." He muttered. Kallen count onto his statement and began searching for food coloring.
"No one said they all had to be white." She grinned. He nodded.
Soon the microwave timer went off and Kallen pulled the perfectly circular cookies out of the oven and placed them on the counter to cool. In the meantime, Lelouch started mixing various colors in with the frosting like red, blue, green, and yellow. Once the cookies had cooled off, they began frosting them. They were on they're fifth one when Kallen started yawning.
"Someone's sleepy." He commented. Kallen nodded, rubbing her eyes sleepily. He placed one more cookie on the rack before picking up another one. Kallen reach over to grab another one to frost.
"This is the last one, then I'm going to sleep." She moaned. That's when she noticed she left her butter knife back on the counter by the sink. She lazily got up and went up to get it. Luckily there was a bowl of blue frosting sitting there also so she decided to stay there and let Lelouch finish the others at the table.
"I'm surprised at you Kallen." He started. She looked up in slight confusion.
"Oh?" she replied. He nodded, continuing the spread the yellow frosting across the surface of the cookie.
"But I guess that's me just underestimating you, right?" he gave a laugh, waiting for her response. When he didn't get one he turned to see her leaning against the counter, butter knife still in her hands.
"Kallen?" he asked, but receiving no answer. He stood up to see if she was alright but was met by her sleeping form. He smiled warmly and gently took the knife out of her hands and turned to put it in the sink. That's when he heard a soft thud and turned to her head resting on the counter.
"That's going to hurt in a few hours." He murmured. He decided the best thing to do was to take her back to her room where she could get some sleep. Easier said than done. It wasn't that Kallen was heavy, she actually pretty light.
Lelouch just wasn't cut out for that type of act of kindness. Either way, he made it but not without breaking out into a sweat. He gently placed Kallen down on her bed and watched as she slept peacefully. He pulled the sheets up to her shoulders and ran his fingers through her hair. She twitched slightly to which he smiled and left the room.
Kallen woke the next morning at about nine fifteen, still hoping to get some more sleep. But alas she had morning duties that she had to attend to. She couldn't ignore the slight pain in her head as she sat up. Shaking it off, she got out of bed and began to get ready. She looked over at her nightstand and noticed a familiar looking cookie sitting on what looked like a note.
It was neatly frosted with white frosting and had the words 'My Q-1' written in red frosting. She blushed at the gesture, picking up the cookie and the note in her hands.
'You're quite the chef. The cookies taste better than the dough. Don't worry, I frosted the rest of them and left a note for Tamaki from you. But he'll only be getting thirteen of them. As always you did an excellent job Q-1.
Zero
P.S. – I'll be waiting for your reaction.
Kallen smiled and looked at the cookie. She was tempted to eat it but decided against it seeing as it now held sentimental value to her. Placing it back on the nightstand along with the note, she returned to getting ready for another long day.
FIN
A/N: So what did you think? Was it a good way to start off? I hope so. The inspiration for this one-shot actually came from me having the urge to bake some cookies and yes, I used the Betty Crocker Sugar Cookie Mix (Which I don't own). It's remarkable how easy it was to make. I actually wrote this in between breaks like when the over was preheating and when the cookies were in the oven baking. I made about 26 of them but I decided that fifteen was enough.
So what about Lelouch and Kallen? Were they at all OOC? I'm sorry if they were to you, just let me know! I'm not too sure when I'll be posting the next one since this was kind of long. Once I get in the mood, I just can't stop. If you have any requests, just let me know. I'm open to any suggestions of any pairings just as long as they're not yaoi or yuri (not comfortable with that). Thanks for reading!
Lady Lauren